Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s share price was down 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $106.64 and last traded at $107.1170. Approximately 6,521,032 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 11,890,196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BABA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Alibaba Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $164.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alibaba Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alibaba Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.45.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $269.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.16.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $39.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 7.00%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $14.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alibaba Group

In other Alibaba Group news, President J. Evans sold 720,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.95, for a total transaction of $68,364,000.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,658,600. This trade represents a 96.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fan Jiang sold 13,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.10, for a total transaction of $164,305.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 556,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,735,065.70. This represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 920,303 shares of company stock worth $70,796,370. Insiders own 12.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,505,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $953,527,000 after buying an additional 466,847 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,335,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $782,135,000 after purchasing an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $594,477,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,206,634 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $276,844,000 after buying an additional 86,613 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter valued at $160,410,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a global technology and commerce company founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and a group of co-founders. Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, the company operates a broad ecosystem of businesses serving consumers, merchants, brands and enterprises.

Its core businesses include online and mobile commerce platforms such as Taobao and Tmall in China, as well as international marketplaces including AliExpress and Lazada. Alibaba also provides wholesale commerce, cross-border retail, logistics through Cainiao, local consumer services, digital media and entertainment, and other consumer-focused technology services.

Alibaba Cloud provides cloud computing, data storage, artificial intelligence and related technology solutions to businesses and organizations.